Major solar farm rejected by Mole Valley District Council
April 30, 2025
Solar farm covering 135 acres rejected by council
Getty ImagesPlans for a solar farm reportedly large enough to generate power for about one third of homes in Mole Valley, Surrey, have been rejected.
Councillors at Mole Valley District Council voted seven to five, with one abstention, to refuse the 49.5 megawatts plant in Cobham Road, Fetcham.
Those against argued it was an inappropriate use of green belt land and too close to ancient woodland, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
The decision went against the advice of planning officers, who said the refusal would likely be overturned on appeal, incurring thousands of pounds in costs for taxpayers.
The developers, Ethical Power, claimed there was an “overriding case” that delivering renewable energy outweighed the “modest impacts”.
Had the 55-hectare (135 acres) power plant been any larger, it would have been classified as a nationally significant project requiring government sign off, the meeting heard.
Councillor Abhiram Mageshsaid said rejecting the proposals was “not defensible by the legal material planning consideration” and that councillors needed to use vote with their brains, “not with your heart”.
Others challenged the environmental benefits of green energy at the expense of locally grown food and argued that the 40-year proposed life span of the site was anything but temporary.
Councillor Simon Budd said: “The land that you are covering up, it’s good quality land that grows food.
“At the moment, the food is grown in Fetcham and it’s sold in Fetcham in a farmers shop in Fetcham, you’ve got zero miles.
“If you cover up land in Fetcham, people have still got to eat so you’ve got to import grain.”
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